Dragon Wars
by Jimmy 144
Summary: Some research, Eureka post season 3. Jack waiting for Zoe to come back on spring break and Tess to stop in on business. Just a normal day. Chapter 4 fighting the dragon.
1. Chapter 1 the Burning

Dragon Wars

As always, don't own Eureka or any games referenced, like Dragonslayer

If we knew what it was we were doing, it would not be called research, would it?

-Albert Einstein

Chapter 1—the Burning

Listening to SARAH go on and on was getting really old. Jack finally unleashed, "SARAH just stop. I am fine. I know they are not here. But I am fine. Stop it!" He headed out the door.

Jack decided the first stop had to be Fargo. He had to stop this thing before it got completely out of control. Ever since Zoe left for college and Tess went to Australia, SARAH thought it was her job to keep Jack company. He could not get away from it. Every time he said something, SARAH kept talking more.

Headed down the road to Fargo's, Jack saw a car of the side of the road. As he got closer he noticed there was a small problem. One side of the car was burned. The paint on one side was completely gone and the car was down on that side. He pulled out his cell, "Jo, checking a car off the old access road from Highway 84. Looks like it was on fire. Oh yeah, body inside. Get Henry please. There's a metal box with a GD stamp in the back seat. Better let Allison know. Unless you have something else, I need you to come out. I'll see what else I can find."

Jack started to look around the car. The burned side was on the right side of the car. The tires were melted and in shreds. The front passenger window was blown in. The driver did appear to be pushed to the driver's door. The inside of the car was burned along with the driver. Other than the metal box, there did not appear to be any other objects in the car.

Jack looked off the side of the road. The young trees nearest the road were crushed. They were not pushed over. They were basically flattened. The area flattened was a little bigger than the size of the car. Jack went further back into the woods but found nothing unusual.

When Jack got back out to the road, Henry was there in the city fire truck and Fargo had just pulled up.

Henry walked up and said, "What have we got Jack?" He looked at the car and then in at the driver.

Fargo came up after looking around, "Wow, looks like it got flamed by a dragon."

Both Jack and Henry turned around, "What?"

"You know. Flying dragon lands on the trees. Flames the first intruder to across its path," he said with a very serious look.

Jo came up from behind, "Fargo, don't you think you have been playing Dragonslayer a little too long."

"Ah no, I…well, look at this. The car's toasted side and the burnt interior are just what…okay that's disgusting." Fargo went to the side of the road and threw up.

Henry motioned to the car's burned area, "You know he has a point. The paint is burnt off the car like a torch would do the job. Then, the pushed in window could come from a blast."

"Right Henry. Please tell me there are no dragons around and GD has not gone off the deep end with some DNA research," Jack complained.

"Well, I can't, but maybe Allison can," Henry pointed to Allison pulling up.

Jack saw that Fargo was recovering, "Fargo, you okay?"

"Yeah, I'll be alright," Fargo replied. "You could have told me there was a body in there."

"Yeah, sorry Fargo," Jack smiled. "Say, before we get into this, can you dial SARAH back? She is definitely getting a little too talkative."

"Yeah, sure Sheriff," answered Fargo.

Allison walked up, "So, you getting your home theater fixed or we got a problem."

Jack smiled, "Glad you could come. Scorched car and driver." He looked over to Jo, "Were you able to run the plates?"

"A Doctor Jay Morrison," she answered.

"Well, that explains the metal box," Allison said. "He was supposed to be bringing a delivery to GD. We had expected him this morning."

"Okay, so what is in the box?" Jack followed up.

"Sorry," Allison replied.

"Oh, come on," Jack exclaimed.

Allison shook her head.

After getting a 3D film clip of the scene Henry and Jack put the body in a body bag.

As they put him in the truck, Henry said, "I will do a normal autopsy and let you know the results. Fargo, can you check for relatives?"

Jack said, "Okay Henry, thanks."

"Yeah, I come back and get the car later," Henry added.

Jack looked at Allison, "You want to take the metal box?"

"Yes, I'll get it. If it is not what we expected, I'll let you know," Allison nodded at Jack.

"Thanks," Jack replied. "Jo, you got anything else?" He saw her shake her head no. "Well, let's go check what we can find."

Jack walked into the sheriff's office, "Here's the coffee from the café. You owe me one."

"Carter, they're free and if I remember correctly you owe me two more," Jo smiled.

"Oh come on, two bad choices on the first round of play offs. The others will make the final four." Jack smiled, "Okay, okay…so, have you found anything?"

The phone rang, and rang, and rang, and rang, Jack got it, "Carter, yeah. Okay, we'll be right out."

Jo was getting her belt, "Where are we headed?"

"Out to the McGevy place. Their shed is on fire," Jack got his coat.

They both grabbed their coffees and headed out the door. They got out to the cars and Jack motioned to Jo. She got in the Sheriff's Jeep.

"So, how's Zoe doing?" Jo asked.

"Great. Great. Classes are going fine. She is coming home this weekend for Spring Break," Jack was smiling.

"Just the weekend?" Jo asked.

"Yeah well, I agreed that she could go on a last of the season ski trip. The snow is holding, so she'll probably go," Jack answered.

"But Tess is coming back for a week or something?" Jo continued.

"Oh, yes. I talked with her last night. She'll be back on Monday. She has to come back and get some kind of calibration done for her project," Jack smiled.

Jo smiled too, that would at least get things back to normal for a few days. As the smoke from the McGevy fire came into view, "So, anything else on the McGevy place?"

"That was Henry. He got the first call and is on his way out there," Jack paused as they saw the tell tale white puff of smoke billowing up after the black smoke. "Well, I guess, Henry got it under control."

When they pulled to a stop by the barn, they could see the shed. The right side of the shed was burned away. The rest of shed was charred.

Jack walked over to the shed. Walter McGevy was there by the shed. Jack said, "Hey Walt, what happened?"

"I was in the barn. All of a sudden the animals seemed to get nervous. I came out of the barn and it was on fire. The only thing strange was a big swoosh. It was like a big wind that comes and then stops," Walt answered. "Why, this happen someplace else?"

"We are checking," Jack quickly responded.

Henry motioned Jack and Jo over to the shed, "You might want to see this." Henry pointed to the GD metal boxes that were on the floor of the shed.

Jack looked at them, "Hey Walt, what are the boxes for in the shed?"

Walt looked at him and then came over to look. When he saw them Walt said, "Oh those are like coolers. If one of the animals dies before it is time to butcher them, I put the heart in the box and send it to the Vet, Doc Fodler, up at GD. He checks it and then says whether we can butcher the animal or destroy it and bury the remains."

Jack looked at Walt, "Okay should have asked. What kind of animals do you have?"

Walt looked at Jack like he had just stepped in it, "Pigs."

_A/N Wanted to try a regular piece for Eureka. Hope you enjoy. Please review._


	2. Chapter 2 the Homecoming

Dragon Wars

As always, don't own Eureka or any games referenced, like Dragonslayer

If we knew what it was we were doing, it would not be called research, would it?

-Albert Einstein

Chapter 2—the Homecoming

Jack had been working on the Dragon case for a couple days now. It seemed that they were no closer to the solution. Another car and two other buildings had been burned. Fargo said he fixed SARAH but now listening to SARAH, go on and on about Zoe and Tess coming back, was getting really old. Jack unleashed again, "SARAH just stop. I know they are coming. Everything is fine. Stop it!" He headed out the door.

Jack was on the phone while he drove to the office, "Listen Fargo. I want it dialed back to the point that it talks when asked. Make it so it can only say one or two words in case of an emergency…like fire or earthquake. I am tired of these stupid head games. They end or you do. Do you understand?"

Jack walked into the sheriff's office, "Here's the coffee from the café. You owe me one."

"Carter, they're still free and the total is now four," Jo smiled.

"Oh come on, so they lost in overtime. The picks I made up at GD are still in and will make the final four." Jack smiled, "Okay, okay…so, have you found anything?"

"Nope, the only thing in common is the metal boxes. Each building or car had at least one. We need Allison to tell us what is in there and maybe we would have a lead," Jo shrugged her shoulders. "Oh, don't forget, Zoe's friends are dropping her off here at two o'clock."

Jack looked at her, "Yeah, got it. I'll go up at GD and ask again."

Jack took his jacket and headed out the door.

Jack went up to Allison's office. Standing at the entrance he knocked, "Have you got a second?"

"Jack, I always have time for you," Allison replied. "What's up now, another dragon strike?"

Jack winced at the comment, "No, but all of them still only have one thing in common. They all had that metal box with the GD stamp."

"Jack, I know they do. And I keep telling you that it's still just a minor thing. Okay, all of them got burned. All of them had something sit down next to the thing that got burned and in some cases, flattened what was there. And in all of them there were metal boxes." She saw she was not getting anywhere. She finally decided, "Okay, just so you see how ridiculous the metal box clue is, I'll have Fargo show you around to every place that uses them."

"We did have a death with this," Jack started.

"I know. But it was not on GD grounds and the GD property involved was not taken, the box was burned." She looked at him and said, "I can't do anything special for this. So far, GD is not involved. I can only assist."

"Okay, well thanks. I go check in with Fargo. He's supposed to be fixing SARAH for me. I'll get him," Jack turned and left the office.

The scene on Allison's desk became active, "Thank you Doctor Blake for dealing with that. We have not been able to open the box that Doctor Morrison was bringing. We should have it in two to three days tops."

Jack was down at Fargo's desk, "So, how is it coming? You are going to be able to dial it back, right?"

"Yes, Sheriff Carter. Just a second and we'll be done here," he made another adjustment. "What else are you looking for?"

"Oh, Allison sent me to you. I am to look at all the places us would have metal boxes similar to the one in the car that got burned," Jack answered.

"You're serious? Great, this will take all week," Fargo entered one more command and then shut down. He turned to Jack, "Okay, come on this will be fun, not."

After stopping by ten different labs and getting the same results. Jack put up his hand, "Okay got it. The box is just a shipping container to you." Jack took a couple steps ahead of Fargo and turned, "So, let's go see the one that was in the car. Maybe we can find something special about it."

Fargo just stood there. He said, "You're going to have to ask Doctor Blake about that."

"Fargo, what's with this? Alright, come on," Jack turned and started to Allison's office.

When they got there, she was not at the desk. They headed down to the cafeteria but she wasn't there either. Jack looked at the clock, "Look Zoe is coming home in just a little. Tell Allison that I want to talk about this. And just so she remembers, since it was a GD employee in the car, a GD car, and the box is GD, GD does become involved."

Jack left for his office. He was not going to be late for Zoe coming back. He knew SARAH was right. He missed both Zoe and Tess. He was smiling thinking of them coming back this week.

When he pulled up to the Sheriff's Office, Jo was walking in the door. She had one of the GD metal boxes.

"Ah, what have you got Jo?" Jack asked.

"I got the box from the McGevy's place. I thought we might as well check them to see if there is anything different," Jo responded.

"Fine. Zoe should be here any minute," Jack said taking off his jacket. "I'll just be waiting for her."

Jo started working on the box but also watched Jack pace back and forth. About the fifth time, Jo looked up and asked, "Can you help me with this?"

Jack went over to the box. The lid had a normal clasp that was a bit rusty. After Jo sprayed a little gun oil on it, they were able to work it free. The box then contained a jug with a twist off lid. They were still twisting on the lid when Zoe came in.

"Well, hi," Zoe said as she saw both her dad and Jo had their heads down straining on something. "What you doing?"

Jack looked up to see his daughter. He grabbed a rag to wipe his hands off. And came over and gave Zoe a big hug, pulling her off the floor.

"Uh, Dad. I'm not a little girl anymore," Zoe said with a smile.

"Right. Yeah. Sorry," Jack got out. "Glad you're here. I mean."

"I know. I missed you to," Zoe said.

Jo came over and gave Zoe a hug, "I missed you too. So, how is college?"

"Oh, it's great. I actually understand what they are talking about. It's been a lot of work, but I have been able to keep A's in all my classes," Zoe was beaming.

Jack asked, "So your friends went on?"

"Ah yeah, like I said, they are going to their homes for the weekend too. Then if there is snow at the resort on Sunday, we'll head over to ski. We checked with the management. If there is no snow by Monday morning, they'll close. So, we'll decide on Sunday," Zoe explained.

"Okay, I'll take you home and you can unpack," Jack got his jacket and headed to the door.

When they got over to the bunker, Zoe opened the door.

"Zoe, welcome back. I am so happy that you are home…" SARAH was beginning.

Jack held up his hand, "I told Fargo to dial it back. If she starts getting on your nerves, like she is mine, the phone number is by the refrigerator. Just call him and tell him to turn it off."

SARAH brightened all the lights, "You wouldn't do that Sheriff Carter. Would you?"

"That close," Jack held his fingers so they were almost touching. "So, I am going to head back. We are still working a case where a GD employee was killed. I should be home before dinner. SARAH do you have something ready to go?"

"Yes, Sheriff. It is…" SARAH started.

"Yes, was good. I'll be back. Your keys are on the counter," Jack went out the door.

Zoe asked, "How long has he been like this?"

"The increase in negatives began the day after you and Doctor Fontana left. He has been tending to short one to two word answers. It is most distressing," SARAH analysis indicted.

"Well, I'll be here a couple days and then Tess will be back. It should be better on you SARAH. Sorry," Zoe got her bags and started up the stairs.

Jack walked back into the Sheriff's Office. He saw Jo at her desk trying to get the lid off. "Anything working today?"

"I have not gotten the lid off. I guess we'll have to ask," Jo concluded.

"Okay, I'll call Walt," Jack reached for the phone. When he picked it up, someone was already on the line, "Hi, Sheriff Carter here. Right. Okay, where? Did you get Henry? Yeah. We'll be right over."

Jo was already up and had her belt on, "Where to?"

"Shed down by the old factory buildings. Sounds the same. Couple kids from school told Vincent," Jack was heading back out the door.

Henry was already there. The fire was out. Jack went to Henry, "Anything different about this one?"

Henry pointed to flatten street light, "Don't think so. It looks the same."

Jack and Jo pushed the burnt door open and looked inside the shed. There were two metal boxes. They spent more time looking around for anything new and in particular different about this scene. They came up empty. The positioning of the flattened light pole was the same as other scenes. The side of the building was completely burned, but the rest was generally scorched.

Jo looked at her watch, "You better start over to dinner with Zoe. Don't want her waiting too long on her first night back. I'll take care of the rest."

"Thanks Jo. I owe you," Jack got in the Jeep and head off.

Jack got back just as Zoe was finishing her last bite, "Sorry, got to run. Lucas and I are going over to Pilar's tonight."

"Okay, well see you. Are you coming back tonight?" Jack asked.

"Don't know. I may stay over at Pilar's," Zoe looked at her dad. "Don't worry, I still haven't." And she went out the door.

"Say a word and I make the call," Jack sat down at the table and started eating.

The next morning Jack saw her briefly when she came back to change and out with Lucas. Her only report was that it did not snow at the slopes the night before. Jack spent the rest of the day watching basketball. Zoe came back late that night, called out goodnight and went to bed.

The next morning Zoe said that they were going over to Pilar's to watch the weather and see if the snow would hit the slopes. Jack spent the day watching more basketball. Finally, that afternoon, he got the call. No more snow at the slopes. Zoe and the rest would not be going. Zoe would be back late that night. The same thing happened. Zoe came in, called out goodnight and went to bed.

Jack was smiling the next morning. Tess was coming back today. Her plane was a later flight and she was getting a rental and driving up. She was going to be there in time for dinner. Zoe came down as Jack was headed out.

Zoe said, "I am going over to Lucas's today. We both have some homework to do over spring break. We are going to try and get it done today. I'll be back late."

Jack went to the office. Jo was still working on the lid.

Jack asked, "Any progress?"

Jo answered, "I did get Walt. He said they were open when he got them. He'd just put the sample in and close it. He never tried to open them and did not know there would be a problem."

Jack took a sip of the coffee on the desk, "I'll go back up to GD and see if they know anything helpful. Fargo is supposed to show me around some more. So I may be up there all day. But I will be back in time to meet Tess."

" is she coming here?" Jo asked.

"No she'll go to the bunker. I'll meet her there," Jack got the cup and raised it to her.

"Right, that's another two. Do you have anyone in the play offs?" Jo smiled.

"No, it's a shutout. So what you have a team?" Jack smiled back.

"Right, one in each bracket," Jo pointed to the poster on the wall.

Jack went out the door and headed to GD. When he got there he went to Fargo. Fargo started taking him around to the other places they had missed before. In the afternoon when Jack was getting tired of all these labs Jack noticed something a little different about one of the boxes. Jack asked to see the box and asked that it be opened.

When he looked inside he saw that the lid looked a little different. The thermos was easily opened. Jack asked, "Fargo, are they all the same or is the lid on thermos different?"

Fargo answered, "I don't know. I always thought they were the same. You think there is a difference? What is different?"

Jack held up the lid, "Well for one, the lid on this one is different from the one we have at the office. This one has large ribbing. The one at the office is like a coin and is ribbed close together."

"Let's go to shipping and see if they have different ones there," Fargo motioned to the door.

When they got to shipping, Mister Watts showed them the types of boxes and lock designs. The box that looked like the one at the office was really a combination lock.

Jack got his phone out, "Jo. The boxes have different designs. The one we have is a combination lock. The main way to tell what kind they are is by the lid. The one we have has ribbing that is close together like on a coin. Others have ribs more like a pickle jar or something wider. Please go check to see of the boxes we have all match. Give you a call back when I find out how to open them."

Jack returned to Watts, "So how do we get the ones with the combination open?"

"Each of the labs that has those boxes assigned to them has their own system. But here let me show you something. See under the lid, there's a number. Think of it as a serial number. Each of these boxes will have a different one. So, when you get the matching office, they should be able to tell you the combination," explained Watts.

"Do you have a list of who has which boxes? By number?" Jack followed-up.

Watts looked at Fargo, "I don't. I thought you did?"

Jack looked at his and decided it was time to go. He said, "Fargo get me a list of those numbers and what offices they belong to by tomorrow morning."

Jack left for the bunker.

He pulled up as Tess arrived. Getting out of his Jeep he hurriedly walked over to Tess's rental and opened the door for her. He got out, "Oh, it's so good to see you." He was wrapped in a kiss.

Tess replied, "I missed you too."

Jack got her bags and went in with her. Jack opened the door and said, "You say anything but hello and I call."

Tess looked at him, "Well, big guy. I knew we were going to be alone, but I thought we would get to talk a little." She was smiling at him.

Jack bent his head, "Oh, I didn't mean you. SARAH has been getting on my nerves, recently. I had Fargo dial her back but I am still not sure she isn't purposely trying to bug me."

"Well, hopefully I'll help with that nerve thing. We are going to eat first?" Tess started to follow her nose. "That does smell good. SARAH, what have you got for us?"

SARAH announced, "A fresh garden salad, followed by prime rib, garlic potatoes, green beans, and a chocolate truffle cheesecake."

Tess smiled at Jack, "It does smell good."

Jack helped Tess with her seat and served the dishes that Sarah had out for them.

Tess asked, "Did Zoe and the others go skiing then?"

"No, they did not get any snow. The slopes closed down. Everyone stayed with their families," he smiled. "Well, just about as much as they used to stay at home. I think she has been here a total of twenty minutes no counting going to sleep and getting up ready to go out again." He could hear her speakers start to respond, "And SARAH, I do not want the precise number."

Tess smiled between bites, "Okay, this is good. Far better than what we are getting out in the bush."

"So, your calibration job, do you do that during the day or do you have to time it to meet their daylight?" Jack asked.

"Oh well, actually, my part here is mainly during the day," she smiled. "I'll be done when you are. Oh, what are you working on?"

Jack went through the current case and what they were doing about it. Tess offhandedly said, "Why don't you just use the storage combinations?" After Jack looked at her, she gave him the numbers. "I'll show you tomorrow before I head up to GD."

When they finished dessert, SARAH turned on the basketball games. Jack looked up, "No, thanks. Some nice low soft jazz music, please."

Later Zoe came back to the house. She saw the luggage had not made it up stairs and smiled.

The next morning Zoe was already downstairs when Jack came down. Tess was right behind him.

Zoe smiled, "Well, did you have a good night?"

Jack looked at her with his eyes getting bigger, "Yes, do you want to stop by Café Diem for breakfast?"

"Ah sure," Zoe replied. "Tess, what's it like down in Australia? How long did it take to get back?"

Zoe rode with Tess over to the restaurant. When they got there it was like homecoming with Vincent and the rest of the folks. Tess and Zoe got to explain what Australia was like and what was happening at Harvard. Jack sat and listened.

When they were done, Tess and Zoe followed Jack over to the Sheriff's office. Henry came along. When they got to the office, Jo was looking at the list Fargo sent.

Jack asked, "Did Fargo come through."

Jo went around to Tess and welcomed her back. She was holding up the list to Jack and said, "Yes. Thirty of the boxes with combination locks were assigned to the veterinarian that Walt was sending his samples to. Another ten said section 5. Then there were ten assigned to Doctor Morrison."

Jack took the list. Tess went over to the box and began working the combination.

Jack was just about to ask which batch this box belonged to when Tess opened the combination and took the lid off.

The contents were glowing. It shone like gold. Jack and the others were drawn to it. They looked in the thermos. It was an egg.

_A/N Hope you enjoy. _


	3. Chapter 3 the Egg

Dragon Wars

As always, don't own Eureka or any games referenced, like Dragonslayer or any of the Shakespeare plays

If we knew what it was we were doing, it would not be called research, would it?

-Albert Einstein

Chapter 3—the Egg

**Sheriff's Office**

Jack knew it was a dragon's egg. He stared at it. He was frozen watching its glow. The egg radiated. The glowing grew, almost blinding. Jack was finally able to move his eyes. He closed them and when he opened them his gaze was drawn back to the egg. He concentrated and forced himself to look upon the others. His heart beat loud as he moved his view to his bright angel. Her countenance beamed over the brightness of the heavens. Tess was dressed in a long flowing pink and red velvet grown with gold lace embroidery around the neck and arms. Jack then saw the merry wanderer of the night. She drew her costume to herself. In bright and light she was adorned. Her glaze did not waiver from the light as the egg's golden light shown in her curls. Zoe was covered in a brief waif of a sheer frock with the modest of covering underneath.

As Jack wrestled with his vision, Zoe began to speak, "How now, spirit! Whither wander you?"

Jack tried hard to get it out. He knew this was not right. With all his effort he was able to deliver, "Shall I hear more, or shall I speak at this?" He looked at Tess, "By a name,  
I know not how to tell thee who I am."

Tess was able to draw her eyes from the egg. She could only speak, "Tis morning, I would have thee gone."

Jack stumbled to get Tess and Zoe. He got their arms and led them outside. The sun was up and the town was normal. He drew Tess into his arms. "Okay, a little lesson in Shakespeare."

Tess asked, "Oh, you remember?"

"Ninth and tenth grade English, almost every day," Jack related.

"Yeah, eleventh grade," Tess said.

"Okay, so what is happening?" asked Zoe.

"We need to get them out of there," Jack started to go back.

"Wait going back might not be a good thing. For whatever reason, we were able to break away, but we don't know if we can again; and we don't know what would happen to Jo or Henry if we pulled them away before they break contact," Tess explained.

Zoe was still concerned, "Even though it was an interesting experience, we really should get them out, shouldn't we?"

"So, was that really a dragon's egg or was that a part of the script?" Jack asked.

Tess smiled at Jack and Zoe, "I really don't know. I will think…no, more like know, that it was a dragon's egg." Then she said, "But that had to have been some kind of gas or something that came out of the thermos."

Henry and Jo came out of the Sheriff's Office next. Zoe looked over to them, "Okay, so who were you guys?"

Henry said, "I was Othello and I believe Jo was Katharina."

Jo nodded, "Yeah, very funny. Henry, what was that?"

He looked at Tess, "I don't know. It pretty well had control of us while we were looking at it. I thought for sure it was a dragon's egg."

Jack pulled out his phone, "Hey, I'm at the office. Tess opened the thermos here. We were all locked into the glow that came from the contents of the thermos. There was a dragon's egg in the thermos. You have to get down here and clean this up." Jack noticed the glow coming from the office, "Do the thing I bid thee do."

Jack went over to Tess. He felt compelled to do it, he had no choice. He looked at Tess, "Plainly know my heart's dear love is set on you. We must combine by holy marriage."

Tess answered, "My heart's love is here on earth, my faith in heaven; how shall that faith return again to earth unless we are combined?"

Jack could not refrain. He turned to Henry, "By holy marriage here and now, let us exchange our vows. I'll tell thee this day that thou marry us today."

They all moved as one. Back into the building, her dress had transformed. Tess was now in white and Jo and Zoe were in maidens' dresses to match. The ceremony was complete and there were papers to sign. He knew she was his and he was hers.

**Global Dynamics**

Allison looked at the phone like Jack had lost it this time. There had to be something. She called Fargo next, "Fargo, get up here and bring along anything you found from what you were working with Jack. Now."

It was a minute before Fargo came in the door. He fumbled the papers on to the desk, "Here's what we found. There is a listing of the boxes. We found who is responsible for the ones with locks, and the list of combinations. I had sent the list to Sheriff Carter. Jo would have had it. What happened?"

Allison said, "Tess opened the thermos. Jack said it contained a dragon's egg. Then he said something like 'do what I bid thee.' Fargo, do you know what is happening?" She looked at him looking down. "Fargo!"

"No, I don't know what happened to them. But the new guys in gaming have been working some kind of time wrap theory. It was supposed to be just for their game," Fargo looked down again.

"Fargo what does this have to do with gaming? Or dragon eggs?" She saw him shake his head, "Come on, let's go see them," Allison started walking to the door.

Down in the lab Allison met what she thought were a couple kids. Fargo introduced them as Doctors Williams and Thompson. Allison started, "Okay guys; explain what your game is supposed to do."

"Doctor Blake, we are working a dragon wars game that is set in old England. To get the real feel of the game we were using an adaption of the dream catcher and memory cube to push out a common language and view of the game," Doctor Williams explained.

"And what is the game contained in?" Allison continued?

"Oh, we put it in a wrapper that looks like a dragon's egg for marketing purposes," Doctor Thompson said smiling.

Allison felt like she was about to smack them over the head. "How many have you made? Where are they? And how do you turn them off?"

Doctor Williams said proudly, "We have one version that is our production model. We went through seven beta versions. They all had flaws of one kind or another. But we were careful with them. We put them in the metal thermos boxes down by the waste center."

"You mean the supply room?" Fargo realized what they had done.

"Right, well the door for the waste was…why what happened to them?" Doctor Thompson said.

"Okay, how do you turn them off?" Allison was getting angry.

"It's a game. Use the controller and hit X to end the game," answered a wide-eyed Doctor Williams.

"Fargo, go with them to the Sheriff's Office and turn it off. And then tell them what happened," Allison commanded. "Tell Sheriff Carter to call me when you get done."

**Sheriff's Office**

Fargo and the two doctors drove to the town. As they approached the Sheriff's Office, they continually hit the X on the controller. They got out of the car and went into the Sheriff's Office.

Fargo saw Jo and asked, "Are you alright?"

Jo turned, "Apparently, why are you here? Did you do this?" She pointed to the thermos.

Fargo pointed to Williams and Thompson.

Jack and Tess were still standing there looking at each other. Both said, "Was that real?" and looked down at the paper with their signatures.

_A/N Hope you enjoy. _


	4. Chapter 4 the Dragon

Dragon Wars

As always, don't own Eureka or any games referenced, like Dragonslayer or any of the Shakespeare plays

If we knew what it was we were doing, it would not be called research, would it?

-Albert Einstein

Chapter 4—the Dragon

**Sheriff's Office**

Jack and Tess were still standing there looking at each other. They were passing the paper with their signatures back and forth. Zoe was jumping up and down and hugging her dad and her new Step-mother.

Jack said, "You know that was real. I mean, I know I sounded crazy but that was what I was thinking."

Tess held her hand to his face, "I was not kidding when I said yes. But are we…"

Henry looked at them, "I know you guys already know this. I have the authority by State Law to conduct a marriage and sign the license to note the couple is married."

Jack said, "Yeah, so?"

"Well, you are," Henry smiled. He saw them both kind of step back. "But I am sure that I can annul it right now based on the affects of the dragon egg."

Jack and Tess looked at each other. Jack's head started first. He began to shake his head no. He said, "I don't want to annul…"

Tess cut in, "I want to stay married." She kissed Jack. They stayed in the embrace.

Henry then said, "Well, congratulations." He offered his hand. Jack took it and shook it.

Zoe kissed her dad and then held Tess and gave her a kiss, "Congratulations."

Jo came over and looked at the license. She took Jack's hand to shake it then reached in and hugged him, "Really, this is great. Congratulations." She hugged Tess too.

Zoe looked at Jo, "So, how are you and Zane doing?"

Jo smiled and flashed her left hand, "Good. He finally asked last night."

"Wow. That's so…Wow, congratulations," she gave Jo a hug too.

Fargo did not understand what had happened. Henry explained it to him and the other two doctors. They were amazed. But then Doctor Williams said, "That would mean each of the failed eggs could drive the people who saw them to make their dreams or the eggs dreams, I mean game objectives, come true."

Jack half way heard that, "What? What do you mean? What were you doing?"

The two doctors explained their game and the failed attempts from before. In one of the game scenarios the egg was to grow into a dragon. The game objective was to go out and find and destroy all the other dragon eggs.

Jack's only comment was, "Oh, you didn't." He turned to Fargo, "You better know how to find out who got that egg." That was when Allison came into the Sheriff's Office.

Tess went over to her and showed her the license and explained what happened. Allison said her congratulations. And went to Jack to shake his hand, but she got the last of him telling something to Fargo.

Jack saw her, "Okay, I think we have it figured out. We just have to find out who got the third egg. Each of the eggs had their game in it. The eggs could get you to do things. The third egg may have gotten someone to make a dragon. And then, the dragon was to go destroy all of the eggs. That's why we have seen all the burnings next to the metal boxes. The dragon has been after them."

That's when Henry yelled out, "Jack, we aren't going to have to look far. Everyone get down!"

The blast came through the windows of the office. They all jumped to the floor. Jack had managed to cover both Tess and Allison. When he looked up, it had all changed again. Jack had no choice, grabbing the sword he went out to do battle. Charging the dragon from the right, he ducked under one flame. The dragon moved back to turn at him. Jack had to change his approach. He ran to it swinging. The dragon whipped around and threw its tail at Jack. He was only able to get a piece of the tail. He was able to spin away from the tail. He felt his sword as it made its way into the side of the dragon.

Then it ended. The dragon was gone. It its place was a little man sitting in a single man helicopter with an egg beside him and a flame thrower mounted to the front of the helicopter. Jo came up and pulled the man out of the helicopter.

Zoe was standing there with a game controller, "I just turned it off."

Tess turned and hugged her, "That's my daughter."

Jack came up and gave both a hug, "Thanks."

Zoe asked, "So what do we do now?"

Tess smiled, "Well, I am still looking for the wedding reception."

Zoe replied, "I bet we could get Vincent to do it this afternoon. The only thing you have to figure is your honeymoon."

Tess looked at Jack, "You know I still have that condo at Aspen. Want to try a little on the slopes?"

_A/N Hope you enjoy. _


End file.
